You're weak
by Lenneth La XIV
Summary: Sakura finds out Ino let them tie in the Chuunin exams. Sakura is distraught to find out that Ino could have beaten her. Sakura trains harder than ever because she feels weak. This all leads up to Sakura confronting Ino. Sakura and Ino friendship story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- This is the first story I published on and this is when I realized that the site doesn't like me that much. I'm just happy I edited it. Hope you like it too.**

**You're Weak**

Ino, Shikamaru and Choji walked down the walls of their old academy school.

"Man…what a drag! We've been going on so many low ranked missions lately that I've hardly got some afternoon naps," Shikamaru said to his team mates.

"I know how you feel…I barely get anytime to eat a bag of chips!" Choji added.

"What do you guys mean? I feel awesome! I never had so much fun!" Ino protested.

"Right…for you…" Choji said under his breath.

"Come on guys…we're a team no matter what! So if one of us is feeling out of shape it's up to the other members to get them into shape! Which would be me…of course," Ino said. Shikamaru huffed.

"It's just that we've been on non-stop missions and its really getting to us," Shikamaru said while he looked around the halls.

"Everything was so much easier two years ago…man…even now the chunnin exams seemed easier than this," Shikamaru said.

"I know…even though we almost got killed during the second part of the exams…it was a lot easier," Choji said.

Ino just looked around the hall…she didn't want to talk about the chunnin exams and the preliminary battles.

"What's wrong with her?" Choji whispered to Shikamaru.

"I don't know but she always does this when we talk about the exams…I think there's something she's hiding…" Shikamaru said to Choji. Shikamaru began to eye Ino.

"What? Do I have a pimple on my face or something?" Ino rudely asked Shikamaru as he came closer to her.

"No…but I have a feeling that you've been hiding something…maybe…something big," Shikamaru said to her.

"Me!? Of course not! Why would I have to hide something from you guys?" Ino said trying not to say what she was hiding.

"Well…we have ways of making you talk…" Choji said while both of the boys cracked their knuckles. Ino began to sweat.

"Alright! I'll tell you…but you can't tell anyone else!" Ino said. The boys got excited while Ino checked if anyone else was listening to them.

"Okay…during the chunnin exams…while in the preliminaries…I let…I let Sakura and me tie!" Ino confessed to her team mates. They were both shocked at what she said.

"You did what! You give up your chance to be a chunnin so that you could lose with Sakura! Are you crazy!?" both Shikamaru and Choji said.

"Well…I'm a chunnin now, aren't I? Besides…that was two years ago! Let's forget about the past and concentrate on the future!" Ino said trying to change the subject.

"No. First things first…"

"Tell us why you allowed yourself and Sakura tie!" Shikamaru finished Choji's sentence.

"Well…" Ino began.

"Well what!?" the boys said.

"Well…we all know that Sakura is weak…so I thought it would be funny if me, a genin, defeat Sakura as a chunnin?" Ino said with a laugh.

"That would make a good reason…do you think we should believe her?" Choji asked Shikamaru.

"I guess we could…she does hate Sakura…but I never knew her heart was that cold," Shikamaru said to Choji.

"Are you saying that I have a heart of ice!?" Ino asked, with anger in her eyes, at Choji and Shikamaru.

"I guess we could believe her…" Shikamaru said.

"That's more like it! Now come on! We came here to visit Iruka-sensei!" Ino said while walking down the hallway. The boys shrugged and began to follow her.

"Man…can you slow down Ino? Me and Choji don't have the same type of energy as you do!" Shikamaru yelled at Ino.

"What…" Sakura silently said to herself. Sakura couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"Ino only tied with me because she thought I was weak…She wasn't tired like I was? She could have won the battle but she tied with me because she thought I would win…then she was going to humiliate me? I actually thought that…I was just as good as her and just as strong as her…now…I feel weaker than her…I wonder if I am…" Sakura thought to herself as she walked through the opposite hallway, all by herself.


	2. Chapter 2

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A/N I'm still getting use to this site. It doesn't seem to like word processor. Oh well...YEAH!! CHAPTER TWO!! I think more people believe in InoSaku rather than their friendship... (Everyone: DUH!!)...Time for the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Someone else does. If I owned Naruto then Sasuke would die in the end.

Chapter 2

"What's wrong with her?" Naruto asked Kakashi while watching Sakura train.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi replied without looking away from his book.

"Well...look at her...she's actually...training...and she just knocked over three trees..." Naruto couldn't keep his eyes off of Sakura.

"What do you mean? Sakura isn't that stro--" Kakashi stopped talking when he realised Naruto was telling the truth. Both of their jaws dropped when Sakura punched down another tree.

"I'm scared..." Naruto absently said. Kakashi nodded his head in awe and fear.

"Me too..." he was able to say even though his throat was dry. They continued watching Sakura as she left massive holes in the trunks of trees.

"What is everyone looking at?" Sai said as he walked up to his team members. They were silent. They couldn't think of anything but Sakura. One day she was a weak girl but the next...she was to be feared.

Sai followed their gaze to Sakura. He was in awe like Naruto and Kakashi but he wasn't as surprised.

"I see now...it seems like Sakura has grown in strength. How do you think we should get her to stop?" Sai said while watching Sakura.

"Well I'm not stopping her! What if she tries to kill me!?" Naruto said making sure his butt was safe.

"Don't look at me! I say we wait for her to tire out and give up," Kakashi said in a surprisingly sheepish voice.

"We can't do that..." Sai said while smiling at his team mates.

"Why not? That sounds like a perfect plan to me...it makes sure that my butt isn't red by time I go to bed!" Naruto protested.

"If we wait for her to tire out...we would have no more trees..." Sai said in a smile while walking towards Sakura.

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"I can't believe she called me weak! I have to get stronger..."

Sakura thought to herself as she punched a tree.

"Be careful Sakura...you could break your hand or even more worst...the tree," Sai said with a wide smile.

__

"I can't believe he is more worried about a tree than about me!"

Sakura thought. 

Like almost reading her mind, Sai pointed to something behind Sakura. She turned to see about a dozen trees on the ground.

__

"Did I do this?"

Sakura contemplated. 

"This isn't fair to the trees...they can't move," Sai said to her. Sakura turned to look at him slightly dumbfounded.

"I mean...they can't defend themselves," Sai said. Sakura gave him a strange look.

"Also...this is not fair to you either. This is only making you weaker," Sai said with a soft smile on his face. Sakura gave him a dirty look. The last word in his sentence attacked her soul. The word ringed through her skull like a fire alarm that she just could not take anymore. She snapped.

"What are you trying to say!? That me, training myself, is only making me weak! How dare you!" she shouted at Sai. He saw the fire in her eyes and her anger growing inside of her.

"That is not what I said..." he said with a small smile.

"That's what I heard!" she growled at him.

"You're misquoting me...I said 'Its only making you _weaker_...' not weak. There's a difference," he said.

Sakura couldn't take it. Her anger growing fierce...almost like an instinct. She didn't want to hear anymore and take the abuse. She had already heard Ino calling her weak...she didn't need her team mate to start calling her that too. Sakura watched Sai's eyes for some reason to why he said it to her with a smile. Not finding an answer in his eyes, she attacked Sai.

Naruto gasped and Kakashi studied while Sai caught Sakura's fist. With his right hand, he held Sakura's right hand still clinched in a fist.

__

"H-how? How did he block my attack?"

Sakura thought in confusion.

After a few moments of silence between of the two, she sent another fist his way. He was able to catch that hand too. Sakura was in shock while Sai just kept that same soft smile on his face. Sakura's arms were crossed while Sai just held her hands tight.

"Like I said before...it was only making you weaker," he said with emphasis on the last word. This brought Sakura to her boiling point.

She struggled to break free but with no avail. She began to spread her legs in hope of escaping and attacking him. Sai took this to his use. He twisted Sakura's arms, which made her scream in pain, and he spun her around so that her back was facing him but he still had custody of her wrists.

"Sakura...practicing on trees helps you little on the battlefield. Trees do not move. Your opponents will be able to move. They will also be able to anticipate your moves and block them. Like I did. Trees are unable to do this. Sakura...you could have been killed if you continued to practice on trees," Sai said.

Sakura tried to break free. She didn't want to listen to him. Sai knew the only way she would listen was through punishment.

"If you don't listen...I have no other choice...but to kill you..." he said as he placed his right leg on Sakura's back.

He pushed lightly but that created enough pain for Sakura to scream. She could hear the gasp coming from Naruto. Then she remembered something frightening from her past.

__

"This is like when Sasuke broke Zaku's arms...he could have killed him. Will Sai do this to me?"

Sakura thought.

"Sakura...do you understand now?" Sai said in a commanding voice. Sakura, not wanting broken arms, shook her head yes.

He allowed Sakura's hands to go free but he kept his foot on her back.

"I'm happy you understand now...I'm only regretful that I had to use force for you to understand. Don't disappoint me or else..." Sai said giving Sakura a light push with his foot.

Sakura fell to the ground and she didn't bother to get up. She wanted to hide her tears from her team mates.

Sai knelt down beside her. He whispered something into her ear. "Like I said before...only making you weaker..." He got up and walked over to Naruto and Kakashi.

Naruto watched Sakura with sympathy and confusion while Kakashi thanked Sai for stopping Sakura's wild rampage.

_"I have to hide my tears...but I can't stop crying! Tears only prove that you're weak. If I have to be stronger...I can't hide behind my tears!"_

_Sakura thought as she fought back the tears and sniffles. _

_"When I defeat you...it will be without my tears...I promise you this...I shall defeat you without tears...this is my promise to you...Ino..."_

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_A/N I'm happy with this chapter! I love it so much! I hope you enjoyed it too!! I had this written out for the longest time but I was too lazy to upload it. (This was written like in 2007)_


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